Origin
by Neale
Summary: When I was putting together the back story for Heritage, I got the urge to flesh out the roots of the world of Heritage. If it interests people, I may come back to this once I've finished Heritage. Discontinued for now


**Creating the seeds of the history of Magical Britain for Heritage was a fun diversion, so much so that I've had the urge to see how a separate story for the origins of the world of Heritage might go. I'll get on with the last few chapters of Heritage, but the thought of this caught me and I couldn't put it aside.**

 **Anyone who's followed my other stories knows that I have moments when something catches my eye and I'm all like 'Ooh! Shiny' and haring off after it, but I'm going straight back to Heritage, promise! ;^)**

 **Usual disclaimers, no rights to any characters portrayed and this is neither the real world nor a Disney Princess tale.**

Aelfred of Allerdale, the Ealdorman of Cumbria, looked out over the lake, hoping to see some sign of the envoys or petitioners that he'd been expecting for the past week, but he was once again disappointed. He knew that there was little point venturing out from Bran Holm to search for them as they were coming from different directions, but the waiting was not helping calm him, and nor was the magic of the castle this time. Bran Holm had been located here to draw on the magic of the ley lines, and this normally gave him peace, but there was something about the request that they had received which stirred him with anticipation and concern, so that peace eluded him.

The druids who created Aelfred's line had led the druids in Britannia and Scotia with the magical power gained through their unions with the _Tuath Dé_ and the _Fomoiri_ (high elves and high goblins) of the _aes sídhe_ (people of the mounds) since they came over from Hibernia in the Romans' time to escape the deprivations being made on the druids there in the name of Christianity, in hope that the larger land would help them hide from the Christians. However, the reason Aelfred was the Ealdorman of Cumbria was that he was a direct descendent of Owain mab Urien, the son of Urien Rheged and Morgan le Fay.

The druids' guidance of Aelfred's family had ensured that most of his ancestors since the late sixth century had been born of unions between the line of Urien and daughters of the _aes sídhe_ , and this (and the fact that the legends that Morgan le Fay had been descended from the Morrigan were true) was what gave them the magical power to hold sway over the druids, and ensured that the rulers of northern England and Scotland did not move against them. The two envoys he was awaiting held similar status to him and their lines had been created through similar manipulations of the relevant royal families.

The first of these was Llywelyn Du, the Ealdorman of Powrys, who traced his noble line back to a union between Selyf ap Cynan (the King of Powrys) and a daughter of the _Fomoiri_ in the late sixth century and like Aelfred, he held sway over the druids of Wales because the magical power of his line had been strengthened through many other unions with daughters of the _aes sídhe_ since then.

The last envoy Aelfred was waiting on was Aethelred of Uffington, the Ealdorman of Wessex. In terms of political power in Britain, Aethelred was the most powerful of them, as he was a direct descendant of a union between Aethelwulf (the King of Wessex) and a daughter of the _Fomoiri_ in the mid-ninth century, so he was kin to the rulers of England. While Aethelred's _aes sídhe_ heritage was nowhere near as strong as Aelfred's or Llyewlyn's, his power as a druid had been further strengthened through other unions with the _aes sídhe,_ so he still held considerable influence over the druids of southern England _._

The Druids had also attempted to create a fourth line from the Kings of Mercia to control middle England, but they had been killed off and the opportunity was lost after Mercia fell to the Danes and then Wessex.

Their noble kin and the other kings of England, Wales and Scotland had come to fear the magical power that the lines of Aelfred, Llywelyn and Aelthred, and other powerful druids could and did demonstrate when required, and for this reason they had sought alliances with them and their kind in hope of securing aid to hold and expand their kingdoms. To forge these alliances with them, in the late ninth century Aelfred, Llywelyn and Aelthred had all been made Ealdormen in perpetuum over the largest extent of the kingdoms that their lines had originated from by the Kings of England, Wales and Scotland.

Aelfred, Llywelyn and Aelthred were known as the Druid Lords to both the druids and the rulers of Britain, and their wealth and the influence that they held over the druids (or witches and wizards as they were coming to be called now), kings and nobles of England, Wales and Scotland through the magical power that they gained from their _aes sídhe_ heritage was the reason that an audience had been requested with them by a small group of witches and wizards to hear a proposal that they had. The fact that the petitioners had specifically requested that this audience be held in the domain of the Ealdorman of Cumbria had piqued the Ealdormen's curiosity enough to agree to their request.

The petitioners were the first to arrive, two wizards of the lesser nobility travelling with two witches of similar station, and their retinue. Aelfred had shifted into one of his animagi forms and gone out as a raven to spy on the group when he felt them approaching, so they were welcomed with open gates and friendly faces upon their arrival at Bran Holm.

Soon after this group were settled and taking their ease in Bran Holm, Aelfred felt another group approaching and again took the form of the raven to spy out those approaching. This time he had to laugh, as it was Llywelyn Du and his retinue, and as Llywelyn's _aes sídhe_ heritage was almost as old and powerful as his own and he was an old friend, Llywelyn recognised him in his raven form and waved, shouting up at him to have the wine and wenches ready for when he arrived.

It was another day before Aethelred of Uffington and his retinue were close enough to be detected, but to be fair they had come over fifty leagues further than Llywelyn, and while their petitioners had come from the north, they could have been travelling well before Llywelyn or Aethelred managed to put their affairs in order and left their holds.

Once Aethelred and his retinue had arrived, Bran Holm was more crowded than it had been at any time save when the Druids' Council sat there (the Druids' Council always sat in the hold of one of the Druid Lords as they led the Council with the representatives of the other old druid families). They gave Aethelred a day to recuperate before they called the petitioners to explain why they had requested this audience.

* * *

Their petitioners were Godric, the younger son of the Baron of Gryffindor. Salazar de Slytherin, the son of the seneschal of the Ealdorman of East Anglia. Rowena, the daughter of a minor Baron and Helga, the daughter of a thane of the Ealdorman of Leinster. They harked from Mercia, East Anglia or Éiru in Helga's case, which begged a question as to what they'd been doing in the north.

These four were all powerful and capable witches and wizards and it was plain to see (to Aelfred and Llywelyn at least) that they all had the blood of the _aes sídhe_ in their veins. This was no great surprise though as many of the children of the _aes sídhe_ were quick to bed any who caught their eye and were willing, so their blood was spreading through more than the lines of the Druid Lords. The fact that these four were all of the lesser nobility rather than more traditional druids however pointed to the lines of the Druid Lords as the more likely source of this connection as they had had more contact with the the nobles, for that matter the Ealdormen themselves might have been involved as they were not adverse to dalliances with comely and willing maids or matrons.

The story that emerged intrigued Aelfred, Llywelyn and Aelthred. These four witches and wizards had learned their craft with druid masters in Mercia and East Anglia, but they had all been involved in incidents where the local Christian priests and towns people had attacked them and their masters. They all lost their first masters in these incidents and had to seek other masters to learn from. Godric and Salazar had both had to fight their way out in order to survive when they lost their masters, and it was truly fortunate that neither Rowena or Helga had been put in the same position, as they would have most likely perished with their masters if they were. They had sorely needed their quick wits and quick tongues to escape with their virtue intact as it was.

The four of them had met after their last masters had told them that to learn more, they must strike out on their own and seek further experiences, and as a result of their shared misfortunes they had decided then to band together for security in this journeyman phase of learning their craft.

They had travelled for years throughout England, Wales and Scotland, learning their craft, but in the course of their travels they had discovered something incredible up in the Scottish Highlands. It was an abandoned, burnt and half ruined Roman castellum which had been imbued with so much magic that it had come to life with a mind of its own. While it had absorbed his magic when he died, Hogwarts (as it called itself) had no real memory of its past master, but it had kept being fed by the magic of the ley lines that it had been built on and this had helped it sustain and protect itself over the centuries since it started thinking, hiding itself from the non-magical people of the region and repelling them if they came near.

With this, the petitioners came to their reason for requesting this audience with the Druid Lords. In view of their own experiences of losing their masters and almost their own lives in the attacks against them by Christians, and the difficulty that so many witches and wizards had in finding suitable masters to properly train them in their craft, they believed that this Hogwarts could well be a gift from the gods for the magical people of England, Wales and Scotland. They were therefore here to seek the support of the Druid Lords to rebuild Hogwarts and so create a school for magical learning where the magical young of England, Wales and Scotland could learn their craft safely, from the best druid masters that England, Wales and Scotland had.

Aelfred, Llywelyn and Aelthred looked at each other, they had not expected to hear _this_ from the young witches and wizards, and what they were proposing boggled the mind. Every time the Druids' Council met, they heard of more druid masters and young being killed by the Christians. Their numbers were shrinking all the time, and they knew it to be no better for the druids of Éiru. If this Hogwarts was indeed the marvel that the young witches and wizards told it to be, they could well be the saviours of the druids of England, Wales, Scotland and Éiru.

The promise of a safe haven for young druids and druid masters to go to, to be able to train the next generations of druids (witches, wizards, whatever name was to be used for them) in was too great to ignore. If there truly was a chance of the witches and wizards to come being able to learn without fear of being hunted out and slaughtered by the Christian priests and towns people, they had to investigate it and help set the plans in motion to do as the Finders of Hogwarts were proposing.

There was another question on Aelfred and Llywelyn's minds as they prepared to move north, that of who the druid master of the castellum had been. These two had been steeped in druidic lore all their lives, and so they had heard many tales of great and powerful druids who had up and disappeared over the period of nearly a millenium. From the young druids' tale, the master of Hogwarts would have most likely been one of them. The fact that he had taken over one of the Roman castellums up in the Highlands also implied that at the latest it would have been soon after the Romans were driven out, because the Highlanders didn't let evidence of the Romans stand for long. From what they had heard, he must have died inside the castellum, so that his magic was absorbed into the structure when it was released. They were quite excited actually, at the idea of seeing what happened when a powerful druid's magic was imbued into a structure like that.

Just as it had Llywelyn and Aethelred when they were called to Bran Holm, it took Aelfred a few days to get his affairs in order so that he could leave Bran Holm for the weeks or more that it would take them to get to Highlands and investigate this living castle of Hogwarts. As they didn't trust many non-magical humans enough to have a place inside their keeps, the households of the Druid Lords were mainly made up of the lesser beings of the _Tuath Dé_ and the _Fomoiri_. These beings were generally known as common elves and goblins and while they were undoubtedly powerful and capable in their own right, they were markedly different from the higher _Tuath Dé_ and _Fomoiri_ who Aelfred, Llywelyn and Aelthred shared blood with. These common elves and goblins were subservient to the _Tuath Dé_ and _Fomoiri_ as the rulers of their realms, and therefore served the Druid Lords as the kin of their masters. Living and working alongside the elves and goblins were the druids who were aligned to the master of the hold, and the younger druids who were learning their craft from them.

With the elves and goblins handling most of the servant, labour and security functions for Bran Holm, the primary place for non-magical people in the household was to act as part of Aelfred's retinue when he needed to travel, as housecarls and other retainers. The Castellan of Bran Holm and his family were also non-magical, Yowann managed the affairs of the estate, along with the interfaces with the outside world for Aelfred and oversaw the security of Bran Holm and the estates whenever Aelfred left the castle (this had required a blood ritual with Aelfred to get the elves and goblins to serve him). As he had been granted a Barony in recognition of the importance of his role and service, Yowann's family prospered along with Aelfred and the others who were attached to Bran Holm.

As Aelfred was getting his people ready for the trip north, others of his household were arranging to replace the horses that Rowena and Helga and their female attendants at least were riding with more comfortable palfreys from Aelfred's stable. Godric, Salazar and the other men in their group however refused this because it would be 'unmanly' to ride the quiet palfreys instead of their chargers. Aelfred and Llywelyn laughed at this, saying that it must be an English thing, as Aethelred and his men were doing the same. In Aelfred and Llywelyn's retinues however, most of them except for the housecarls were riding palfreys, though chargers _were_ also being led for Aelfred, Llywelyn and some of the others, and they also carried their mail hauberks, hose and coifs, helmets, shields and weapons other than the swords and dirks that they were wearing.

* * *

As they headed across the Roman wall and up through Dumfries, the young witches and wizards who had come to the Druid Lords with this proposal were amazed by the difference that travelling under the Ealdorman of Cumbria's raven standard made. Whereas even though they had tried to slip through quietly before, they had still needed to run from bands of soldiers more than once, now their party was being greeted by the people honouring their Lord. Even when they left the borders of Aelfred's domain, it was obvious that he was respected (and feared) by the people. The housecarls of the Druid Lords still spread out around the group to protect them though, as they took their duties seriously.

They were making good time on the way north, because the Frisian and Cordoban horses supplied by Aelfred (and which the Druid Lords and their retinues used) were quite a bit better than most nobles' horses. Even the so-called 'rounceys' that they used for their packhorses were of a better standard than most nobles rode. They were slowed the most by Godric, Salazar and their followers, because while their beloved chargers were fine horses by most standards, they paled in comparison with the horses of the Druid Lords' stables. Indeed, watching Godric and the other men in their party as they rode, Rowena was most grateful to Lord Aelfred for insisting that the ladies ride his palfreys, because it was obvious to her that she and the other ladies were having a much easier time of it than the men were.

With the better horses and having no need to hide from or detour around armed bands, they reached the Highlands in little more than half the time it had taken the Finders to get to Bran Holm. As they grew closer to the castellum though, Aelfred, Llywelyn and the other powerful druids in their party could feel the magic of Hogwarts, and they grew afraid of the power of it, because they hadn't felt anything of its like before.

The fact that there were two flavours of magic present also raised concerns, because it appeared that this hadn't been the site of one powerful druid dying and somehow releasing his magic, it seemed more as though two powerful druids had battled with their magic here and both had released their magic when they died. This made more sense actually, because the magic of two druids being released as they died in a magical battle was more likely than the spontaneous release by one druid as he died. While this could explain how enough magic was released to awake Hogwarts, it raised a bigger question as to whether the ill will that it had been created with remained.

Their fear subsided as they sensed how eager Hogwarts was to meet other druids, as the four Finders had whetted her (there was a distinct feminine flavour to the personality that they were sensing) appetite and she wanted people to _talk_ to more than anything. With that concern answered, there was no question in the minds of the Druid Lords or the other druids who they had brought along to examine the site that the Finders were correct, Hogwarts was indeed the best possible place to establish a school of magic for the druids of the British Isles, and when they discussed this with her, Hogwarts agreed enthusiastically.

With the hope that this dream would be fulfilled, they had brought along craftsmen to design the castle that was to be built here with the stone of the old castellum. If the Roman fort had been made of wood, the magic would have been most likely lost to the explosion when the druids died, and the fire that followed. At most, all that would have been left at the site would probably have been a powerful sacred grove. As it was a stone fort though, that explosion of magic had been trapped in the stone, even those pieces which had been thrown out by the explosion, so little of the magic had been lost. The magic was almost all still in the stone, making Hogwarts a home of magic like no other in the known world.

Watching the enthusiasm of the Finders, with their dream of creating a school that would serve to train and protect druids from all over, not just the British Isles, awoke a similar enthusiasm in the Druid Lords and the other druids, so the Finders were given a free hand to build their school as big and grand as they dreamed. The Druid Lords had brought along enough members of the Druids' Council to vote on the matter then and there (When they wanted powerful and knowledgeable druids to evaluate the entity that was Hogwarts, where better to look than the powerful druids on the Druids' Council?), so with that they gave the Finders the approval to proceed and called on the assistance of the _aes sídhe_.

For those who hadn't seen the _aes sídhe_ before, they were an inspiring sight. The members of the Druids' Council negotiated with the ruling council of the _aes sídhe_ through the night, but their agreement was a foregone conclusion, because the _Tuath Dé_ and the _Fomoiri_ had been declining over the past millennium due to the deprecations of men. Aelfred, Llywelyn and the other druids from old families on the Council knew that they had been speaking of pulling away from the world of men for the past few centuries, so the discovery of Hogwarts and this talk of creating a school for druids in a place as filled with magic as Hogwarts was to teach their children (they regarded all druids as their children, not only those who were born of unions between man and the _aes sídhe_ ) was deemed to be fate.

The decision of the _aes sídhe_ was that they would supply as many of the common elves and goblins as they could spare to build this school of the druids, in hope that this would help turn the world back towards one where the _aes sídhe_ could once again stand beside men, but then they would withdraw into their own world until the world of men was ready for them again. Most of the common elves and goblins would remain in the world of men, but only those who had the blood of the _Tuath Dé_ and the _Fomoiri_ would be able to command them.

Over the months it took for the common elves and goblins to accumulate at Hogwarts, the children of the _aes sídhe_ swept the land, bedding whoever they would before the _aes sídhe_ withdrew into their own world. A great many babes were born unexpectedly to the daughters of men inside the next year, many of whom were spirited away by the druids to protect them from the cruel attentions of the Christian priests and those who followed them. Many other babes who had been born to the daughters of the _aes sídhe_ were left with druid families to be raised in the world of men.

As the common elves and goblins arrived at Hogwarts they were put to work, pulling the remains of the castellum apart in preparation for the rebuilding. Sensing the power in the stones, they took care to keep the stones together so that Hogwarts retained her power and identity. Many druids also flocked to Hogwarts to assist in the building of the castle and the creation of the school.

When they commenced this, Aelfred had….. convinced the King of the Scots to make him the perpetual Ealdorman of Ross, so that he had control over the region around Hogwarts. This was soon proven to be a prudent measure as Hogsmeade, the druid village that grew up nearby for the hundreds who came to help create the Finders' vision of a druid school, was outside of the bounds of the wards that Hogwarts had created to hide herself from the people thereabouts, so people soon started arriving at the new village and asking questions.

As the Ealdorman of the region, Aelfred's men had little trouble exercising their authority to keep people away, especially with Llywelyn's men there to support them. The non-magical retinues of both Druid Lords mostly lived in the village with their families, this was mainly to help keep up appearances that Hogsmeade was a 'normal' village, but it was also due to the fact that the rampant magic in Hogwarts tended to put non-magicals on edge, so they were more comfortable in Hogsmeade.

Hogwarts and Hogsmeade weren't only dedicated to the druid craft though, Danish Völvas who came to work on the wards stayed to teach their craft (some married men of Hogwarts and Hogsmeade and started families), and they also had some masters teaching the magic of the Greeks, Romans, Jews and others.

* * *

Debates between the four Founders (their designation had been changed from the Finders to the Founders when the first students started learning at the Hogwarts School of Druidry) about just what they wanted to create at Hogwarts kept adding delays to the castle's construction, so much so that it was almost a decade before they agreed that it was finished. They stayed true to their dream however, and no children were turned away. Well over a hundred young druids had gone off on the journeyman phase of learning their craft by then, and there were hundreds more still at Hogwarts. The children born of the _aes sídhe'_ _s_ last dalliances were only just starting to trickle into Hogwarts by then, but they were expecting it to be almost overflowing when the rest of them came.

The decade that it took to create the Hogwarts School of Druidry meant that by the time it was done, the Founders had started families of their own. They had all married witches and wizards who were, like themselves, of the lesser nobility. Aelfred and Llywelyn were of two minds about this development. On one hand, they were disappointed that the four had all given in to the rules imposed by their Welsh, Norman, Saxon and Dane fathers and married in their class. On the other hand, they could see how druidkind would have a growing need for representation with those who ruled the land, and recognised that this representation had to be part of the nobility if its voice was to be heard. The fact that the only real representation that druidkind had at that point was themselves and Aethelred was a concern, all the more so because Aethelred seemed to be more loyal to the House of Wessex than he was to the druids.

Salazar married Beatrice, a Norman witch who's druid heritage could be traced back centuries further than his own (via his mother). Godric married Branwen, the daughter of a minor Saxon Baron and a Welsh witch of several generations. Rowena married Cynewulf, the son of the Saxon Baron of Ravenclaw and a talented witch, while Helga married Gwydion, the son of the Saxon Baron of Hufflepuff. The fact that Hufflepuff was a corruption of a Welsh name pointed to the fact that his family's background was Welsh, as did Gwydion's given name. Salazar had two sons, Godric two sons and two daughters, Rowena a son and a daughter and Helga a son and four daughters by the time that Hogwarts was deemed to have been completed, and their eldest were close to beginning to learn their craft with the other students.

* * *

Even when Hogwarts was deemed to be finished, standing in her new found glory and filled with hundreds of young druids learning from the masters of their craft, the four Founders were still learning that a School of Druidry needed more than being a safe haven and having the masters of their craft to teach the young to achieve their goals.

Many of the hundreds of young druids who were brought to study at the feet of the masters at Hogwarts had experienced many dangers on their journey to Hogwarts and all too many had sadly succumbed to the perils that they faced along the way. For this reason, the Founders and their advisors like Aelfred, Llywelyn, Aethelred and other members of the Druids' Council spent much time and effort investigating and debating the safest ways for young druids (or any druids, really) to travel to and from Hogwarts, whether it be from England, Wales, Éiru, Normandy or further afield.

They had also lost far more than they were comfortable of from the young druids who had gone out on the journeyman phase of learning their craft, but there was little they could do on that front. Some on the Druids' Council were discussing whether it could be possible to push the non-magic people of the Druid Lords' domains and move all druids and other magic users into these domains, but the Druid Lords had to point out that they couldn't do that without the rulers of Britain supporting them, if they tried it without the Kings' support their domains could well be crushed. The best suggestions they had for the safety of druid journeymen was that they follow the example of the four Founders where possible and band together, or at the least pair off so that they could watch each other's backs.

There was a little more they could do in regard to the travel safety issues, as it was centuries before they managed to create what that the seers revealed when they were scrying for a reliable way to safely carry druids and other magical people to and from Hogwarts, but at that they still managed to do so over four centuries before the non-magicals did. It was actually the goblins who determined how to devise and motivate the rails and carriages, but it took them and the human witches and wizards working together for another century to devise and master the enchantments necessary to allow them to carry the magical people across the land in the dark of night. The work needed to repeatedly adjust and maintain the powerful enchantments for this was also significant and required many powerful witches and wizards.

In the centuries leading up to that though, they needed to determine other safe ways for druids to travel, especially to and from Hogwarts so as to protect the future of their people. The main method available to most was by land, but this was how many had died, killed by armed bands that they encountered. The only thing that they could do to protect these people was to bring them together into groups and provide them with guards. Fortunately, many of the common goblins had had little to do since the creation of Hogwarts Castle was completed. What many did not know about the goblins was that they were all trained as warriors, and most of them were masters of disillusionment, so they made the perfect guards for the groups of druids when travelling. The goblins refused to take orders from anyone who didn't bear the blood of the _Fomoiri_ though _,_ so these groups also had to be escorted by druids who had come from the union of humans and _Fomoiri._

The other common and more comfortable way to transport people was by sea, but this was fraught with danger as well, from both the weather and the longships that still raided the coasts of England and Scotland all too often. They could counter these threats to a degree by sending druids with the knarrs and karvi being used to carry their people who could help them outrun any ship attacking them, and also calm the weather to a degree. Obviously, druids with the skills and power needed to do this were rarer than those with the _Fomoiri_ blood needed to command the goblins though, so this method was usually only used when necessary, such as bringing people across from Éiru or Normandy, and they generally took a few ships at a time.

Another means of travel was available to those druids who could get the relevant enchantments cast onto their implements and who held the power and affinity to use it, flying on besoms, pitchforks, staves, staffs or the like. This was also most likely the safest method of travel, in that if flying high enough, those using it were safe from any attacks other than arrows or crossbow bolts. It was also faster than other forms of travel, but few druids had the power to fly great distances this way. The Druids' Council generally only permitted those who could fly this way to do so in the dark of night, so as not to inflame the Christians into more attacks on druids. Aelfred had a number of his spears enchanted to fly, as he had found from bitter experience that being able to change into a raven or a wolf did him little good if he was wounded in the the arm or leg, but he could escape on his spear if he was too injured to fight.

* * *

With the agreement of the Druids' Council, the Druid Lords had started petitioning (or more to the point threatening) the Kings of England and Scotland to make the Founders of Hogwarts Ealdormen in perpetuum over the counties where they were born (except for Godric) once Hogwarts was deemed to be finished.

Once again, Aelfred had had little trouble _convincing_ the King of the Scots to transfer the perpetual title of Ealdorman of Ross from him to Godric of Gryffindor, as his Welsh name was more palatable to the Scots. Therefore Godric quickly became the fourth Druid Lord, but they didn't realise what trouble this was to cause.

With his ties to his kin in the House of Wessex, Aethelred had been tasked with getting his namesake, the King, to agree to the creation of the next three Druid lords. Salazar de Slytherin was to become the perpetual Ealdorman of Norfolk. Cynewulf of Ravenclaw was to become the perpetual Ealdorman of Lincolnshire (as Rowena's husband), and Gwydion of Hufflepuff was to become the perpetual Ealdorman of Leinster as Helga's husband. Rowena and Helga had no issue with this as they understood that as women, they would not be accepted as Lords, Druid Lords or not. The problem was that Aethelred largely put this task aside while he pursued his own political agendas, and then King Aethelred listened to fools with no more sense than himself and plunged England into war at the end of one thousand and two by ordering the massacre of all Danes in England.

Seeing Godric as the only one of the Founders being elevated to a Druid Lord had angered Salazar, as he saw himself as failing to get due recognition for his considerable contribution in the making Hogwarts the success it was. The problem was that, while a wizard of considerable intellect, capability and drive, Salazar was the son of a seneschal, not a Lord, and so wasn't well versed in the mire of politics. As such, he saw Godric being rewarded as a Saxon over him as a Norman, when in fact it was purely because the Godric's title was a Scottish one that already existed and the King of the Scots had agreed because he was giving it over to a Welshman rather than a Saxon.

This problem continued to fester and cause friction between the Founders until it got to the point where Aelfred and Llywelyn forced Aethelred to accompany them to the King of England's royal court. The type of men that King Aethelred had as his guards and advisors were such that Aelfred and Llywelyn experienced no pangs of guilt as they transfigured them all into toads and the like, until there were none left but the King, and the Druid Lords.

They explained to the king that he was to proclaim the three new perpetual Ealdormen as requested but he refused, at least he did until Llywelyn changed the toads at his feet into a writhing mass of angry vipers. As soon as the king screamed that he'd do it, Aelfred conjured flames to burn up the vipers (and the floor around the throne as well), but it was the fact that he still had his staff in his hand and was now looking at the king that had King Aethelred quickly screaming for his chancellor to bring what was necessary for him to formally proclaim the titles in perpetuum.

Once that was done, the king demanded that they rally the druids to hold back the Danes who were attacking England, but Aelfred and Llywelyn laughed at him, saying that the butchers who had done his bidding and anyone involved in the decision to massacre the Danish, leading to their women and children being slaughtered as well, deserved their fate. Llywelyn took great joy in looking King Aethelred the Second in the eye and telling him. "The druids of England will rally, if the Danes attack the people of the land, but so long as the Danes restrict themselves to striking back at the ones responsible, we will leave them to it!"

Aelfred could see the plans that were going through the King's head at that so he added. "What date may we advise the new Ealdormen and their people to appear before you for the bestowing of their titles and holdings King Aethelred?"

The king looked like a frightened rabbit. "People? What people? That is not acceptable! I will not have my courtiers disturbed..."

Aelfred leant in so that the chancellor could not hear the next part. "I'm sure we can handle a few more snakes in costly robes my king with hardly any trouble at all….." he waved to the burnt reptiles and robes strewn on the floor at his feet before continuing. "but those who hold what these new Ealdormen have achieved in great regard are legion. They are well loved my king and there is a veritable army who would be here to see them properly honoured. I'm sure you would not wish to disappoint your people would you my king?"

From the smell, the foolish oaf on the throne had had an accident when he grasped what he was being told while trapped in Aelfred's cold gaze, that these people would fill his court with an army of druids to ensure that he and no-one else could try to do anything to strike back. And if anyone did try anything to the new Ealdormen or anyone in their parties, his royal court and guards would be changed into all kinds of base creatures and then destroyed without a qualm. Aethelred could have lived with that, but what had made the king foul himself was that the look in Lord Aelfred's eye was saying that _he_ would most definitely be dealt with the same way if that happened. Aethelred wished he could have the druid killed for that, but what he'd seen that day and what he'd heard about these three and the other druids told him that even thinking of anything of the like could well be the death of him. Trying desperately hard to hold his composure the king squeaked out. "Would one month hence be acceptable?"

Aelfred shared a look with Llywelyn and nodded with him before he turned back to the king. "Most certainly my king. Would the hour of Noon be convenient for your highness?" When Aethelred stuttered his agreement, he went on. "My humble thanks your highness, Noon on the Ninth day of April it shall be! Might I suggest that your normal courtesans be excluded from this event? As I have indicated, our new Ealdormen and their families are greatly loved, and their people will flock to honour them as they receive this recognition…."

He could see that his true message of 'Our people will be here to protect their own, keep your toads and butchers away or we will destroy them, and you!' was understood when the king stuttered. "Y… Yes, N... Noon on the N... Ninth day of April, the... the court will be cleared…. Chancellor! See that the notifications are made!"

Aelfred gave him an evil smile as he bowed, saying. "My humble thanks your highness, I await the opportunity to exalt in your presence again..." and with that the Druid Lords took their leave.

On the appointed day and time, a number of ships put in at the royal dock to disgorge their passengers, sending the guards who tried to stop them scurrying away. The passengers then proceeded en-mass to the royal court. The court ushers were trying to clear the court as they arrived, but those who believed themselves to be in the king's favour were refusing to leave, until one loathsome example made advances to one of Aelfred's daughters, and was turned into a toad which Aelfred promptly stepped on and squashed.

In the ensuing silence, they all heard him quite clearly when he said that if _any_ of them ever said single a word about this, they and their entire families would all receive the same treatment. They stood there and stared at him until he barked. "Leave!" This was enough to clear the court in minutes.

When the court was cleared aside from their party, the king and some necessary officials, Aelfred instructed the elves and goblins to show themselves, and the king and his officials cried out in fear as the numbers in the court were more than doubled by the strange and horrible creatures that had just appeared, and they saw that most of these creatures were heavily armed. The king and a couple of the others knew warriors well enough to know that between the Druid Lords, lesser nobles and these creatures, none in the palace could stand before them.

Aelfred could see that the king had almost fouled himself again as he saw that the Druid Lords were quite capable of carrying through on what they had threatened a month ago and he gave him the same evil smile that he had then.

The ceremonies were conducted with as much dispatch as possible and Godric was formally introduced as the Scottish Druid Lord, then they took their leave and returned to the ships that they came on. The only thing that looked out of place as they left was the fact that somehow these ships had the breeze driving them in a different direction to the other boats on the Thames.

The goblins were soon put to work, bringing the castles of the three new Ealdormen up to their standards and then the castles and estates were handed over to the Ealdormen's selected thanes to be managed in their stead as the Founders were returning to Hogwarts to run their school.

Aelfred, Llywelyn and others on the Druids' Council were relieved to see that Salazar's anger had been appeased with the investiture of his titles and land in the county he was born in, but they could also see that it hadn't died, the beast was still there, waiting to break out.

 **A/N: I may take this up again and run it through the next nine centuries after I finish Heritage if there's enough interest, but it mainly came from an overwhelming urge to flesh out the comments about where Heritage came from.**

 **NB: Bran is listed as meaning 'crow or raven' in old Welsh in some sources, hence the name Bran Holm for Aelfred's island castle, which may or may not actually be Lord's Island on Derwent Water ;^)**

 **While we're explaining the Welsh being used, Du is Black according to my sources, so Llywelyn is an ancestor of the House of Black, Aelfred is obviously an ancestor of the House of Potter.**

 **BTW: Back then, 'Noon' apparently meant 3:00 PM, it'd be embarrassing to appear for something at Noon and be three hours early, wouldn't it?**


End file.
